1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrochemical therapy apparatus, and more particularly, to an electrochemical therapy apparatus in which various tumors such as cancers are treated using an electrochemical method that utilizes an interaction between an anodic electrode and a cathodic electrode.
2. Description of the Related Art
Cancer is a serious disease that threatens the health of modern-day citizens. Cancer destroys healthy cells by cell mutation or multiplication, the end result of which may be death to the patient. Methods to treat cancerous tumors include a surgical method in which the tumor is excised, a method in which tissue is destroyed by directing radioactive rays onto the tumor, and a method in which cancer cells are destroyed using a cancer-inhibiting drug.
Although the surgical method of excising the tumor is a secure method for a cancerous tumor in the early stages, there are significant risks involved when applying this procedure to malignant tumors. With respect to the method of destroying tissue by using radioactive rays on the tumor or the method of destroying cancer cells or using a cancer-inhibiting drug, although these methods are effective during the early stages of cancer, they are limited in their effectiveness when used to treat malignant tumors. In particular, these treatment methods cannot be used for patients that have become weak as a result of a reduced immunity.
Electrochemical treatment methods have been developed as an alternative to the above cancer treatment methods and to overcome the problems of the same. In the electrochemical treatment method, anodic electrodes and cathodic electrodes are inserted into the cancer and a small current is flowed between their terminals to thereby induce an electrochemical reaction and changes in acidity. These effects change the environment in which the cancer may survive, ultimately resulting in destroying the cancer. When an electric field is applied to the tumors located between the electrodes, H2O with dipole moment located inside and outside tumors are moved along the direction of the electric field. Therefore, dehydration happens in the vicinity area of the anodic electrodes while oedema happens in the vicinity area of the cathodic electrodes, such that the cancer cells are naturally destroyed.